The Globe and Mail's Les PerreauxThe Globe and Mail
Transcript of first-hand account from The Globe and Mail's Les Perreaux:
This is Jill Mahoney from globeandmail.com. I'm on the line with The Globe's Les Perreaux, who joins us again from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In a lot of ways the city has kind of sprung back to life. The shock and the horror of what's happened, well, obviously the horror hasn't worn off completely, but the streets are filled with people who are sort of going about their business trying to figure out where they're going to find their next meal and water and where to turn next for finding a place to sleep. There's a certain vibrancy I sensed out here right now that's been absent for the most part until the last day or two.
And what about looting and lawlessness? How big of a problem would you say that is?
It's certainly a problem, but I'll tell you if you go down to any street with wreckage, it's quite common to see people going through piles of rubble looking for stuff. Now sifting through who's looting, who's scavenging and who's just trying to find their stuff in their house is not always plainly obvious. Sometimes it is, though. I mean, there've been incidents where people who are armed are digging through businesses trying to find valuables and there have been incidents where people have been shot. I would say, though, that in general it's fairly isolated so far, it's certain areas of the downtown core of the city where people, I guess, are taking advantage of the situation.
What about aid supplies? Are they reaching more people now?
They are, but I'd have to call it a trickle. Just a moment ago, several people walked by with bags of rice on their head. It came from a distribution centre that's apparently near here. We're going to head over there right away. You do see occasional glimpses of it. Mostly you see people trying to help themselves, so far. We earlier this morning came upon a scene, quite interesting, of a group of young men working on the hood of a car to make a list of the survivors in their neighbourhood. And basically they're trying to formulate a list that they can forward to some aid group hoping to get food and water to their neighbourhood. It was quite interesting. And they've got a name for themselves even - the Delmas 42 Neighbourhood Aid Committee. This is something that just sprung up on their own initiative. So that's sort of the scene as of now. There certainly aren't aid distribution points on every corner or on any corner that we really see, but there is material circulating from time to time.
OK Les, is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
Well, I should have started maybe by telling you where I am right now. I'm standing in front of the Canadian embassy and there are hundreds and hundreds of people packed in front. The crowd is starting to disperse a little bit now. Apparently, a rumour went out that there was some sort of aid that would be available at the embassy. And, of course, they don't do that sort of thing at an embassy and, of course, there's also hundreds and hundreds of people who perhaps have an immigration file pending with the embassy along with dozens of people who have passports and who legitimately are trying to get in there so that they can get out of the country. It got a little tense for a while because the crowd was packing in quite tight. There's half a dozen Canadian soldiers trying to do crowd control but things have calmed down a fair bit since then.
And one interesting note, Jill. I don't know if you recall the story I wrote this morning about the sisters who are still alive in the wreckage of their convent. One of them drove up a minute ago and I thought maybe she'd decided to leave the country, but it turns out she was just picking up a batch of stranded tourists and delivering them so they could get out. I believe she's 79 years old and it just kind of shows you how determined some people are to ... help.
OK, thanks for joining us Les.
You're welcome, Jill